


Love is the answer to everything

by orphan_account



Series: Hale & Stilinski FBI-investigations [1]
Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Werewolves Are Known, Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Canon Compliant, Derek Hale & Stiles Stilinski Friendship, FBI Agent Derek Hale, FBI Agent Stiles Stilinski, Fluff and Angst, Future Fic, Humans vs. Werewolves, Hurt Derek, Hurt Derek Hale, Hurt Stiles, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Paranormal, Slow Build Derek Hale/Stiles Stilinski
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-25
Updated: 2018-02-25
Packaged: 2019-03-23 21:07:26
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,559
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13796379
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: On their way home after a werewolf investigation, FBI-partners Derek and Stiles find themselves stuck in the middle of nowhere.They are invited by their host to join a special party. Surrounded by love, Derek and Stiles finally let go of their boundaries.And who knows? In the midst of that strange night, they might actually find love themselves.





	Love is the answer to everything

# Love is the answer to everything

It was quiet in the car, with only Derek’s iPod playing softly through the speakers. Derek and I were both silently reflecting our wasted trip to Los Angeles, or maybe we were just too tired and too disappointed to talk at all.

I for one was thinking about the tirade dad would give us once we got back to Beacon Hills, where he leads our Squad. He had warned us not to be too trusting in this case and we had ignored him, believing youth over experience.

Truth be told, the wrath of my old man kind of frightened me. I should have listened to him, I admit, but I had trusted the claims of a seventeen-year old teenager that he had encountered a new pack of werewolves downtown LA without a single doubt. I hadn’t even checked out his background or his story.

As happens more often than not, I decided to throw myself into the adventure head over heels. Even at the age of twenty-five, I often screwed up. Hey, I totally admit that. But the kid seemed trustworthy and I had wanted to believe his story. In fact, both Derek and I believed that we would do the city a favor if we were to prevent a war between rivaling packs.

Derek, always the peacekeeper, had taken the lead easily. He had asked me to join him on a quest to drive out to Los Angeles, to encounter that new pack and to make peace with them instead of starting up a new territorial war. After all, they weren’t so far away from Beacon Hills, plus, they were apparently already threatening to take over certain parts of Los Angeles. It sounded like a crazy ass story, but we’ve had these types of stories checked out before.

Unfortunately, nothing was less true than a new dangerous pack showing its ugly face. The kid had lied through his teeth because of a stupid bet he had made with some idiotic friends. Once we got to the city and met with our local contact, we found out quickly enough that it was all false.

These days, with werewolves now out in the open, Derek’s name and fame had eager teenagers tell us lies. Teenagers, who wanted nothing more than to have a famous Alpha visit their city and challenge him then in pointless fights. This turned out to be one of those times. Once we got to the area, we were attacked by a bunch of kids with guns, knives and baseball bats. They got what they wished for: They saw Derek in full action for less than five minutes. After that, they all lay knocked out on the ground and we sighed disappointedly.

Derek drove his jeep, a practical vehicle he had bought ever since we had made it our goal in life to help supernatural creatures all over the States. We drove many hours together, going from town to town and city to city and we needed good transport for that. It beat the Camaro any time.

Derek sat next to me while listening quietly to Foo Fighters-music. He leaned back as he drove and hummed along with the music. In his head he was already dealing with the disappointment of our lost three days and I knew he would forget about it and move on. He had that ability, while I would be brooding over it for days, wondering how the hell I had allowed myself to jump into a new adventure.

I really needed to get a grip on my sense of adventure.

Derek hummed quietly. I on the other hand, contemplated my story and choice to take off on a wild goose chase behind my dad’s back, instead of celebrating his birthday with him. Besides, since he got together with Natalie Martin, he had her to have drinks with.

I thought dad was in good hands, so I didn’t consider staying at home once. Instead, I left him a text saying I would help out Derek in the next few days and that we would have burgers if he behaved in meantime as a special gift.

Dad had replied with a grunting text message about how he couldn’t afford his two best agents to be off chasing ghosts when there was so much else to do in Beacon Hills.

I brushed off the protests of course. Besides, Derek needed me to keep him from turning feral whenever he came across the foulest of beasts. These days, those types of wolves were around too, especially since werewolves who had been bitten, often turned feral due to their ugly human natures. It happened too much, to my liking. The world had not become a safer place. It only became darker.

Things had definitely changed for our former pack after college. After my pre-FBI studies, which was around the same timeline where supernatural existence was revealed to the world, I joined the FBI for real. After I got my official badge and was recruited for a job at the West Coats, Scott’s dad offered to start up a supernatural-team that would focus on supernatural cases. By then, there were a lot of battles between humans and wolves going on worldwide and the Feds wanted to stop them from spreading like a disease.

Since Beacon Hills was kind of the center of supernatural activity in California, we set up base there. The idea was to solve murders involving supernatural creatures who turned feral shortly after being bitten. Unfortunately, more often than not, we were also involved in saving the more innocent versions of them from their natural enemy, the human.

Derek had joined our taskforce too at my request as a special consultant, who could scent a supernatural a mile away. We made a good team, both as friends and as FBI-agents. McCall was still our Director, but he had asked my dad to run the Squad. Parrish was also part of our team, as were Liam, Corey and Mason. Scott was a vet now and ran his own practice. Kira was still gone with the Skinwalkers and Malia lived with Peter at the East Coast, where she was part of an underground group saving supernatural creatures who deserved being saved against mankind.

Lydia was working hard to get that Fields Medal. She lived in New York with her boyfriend. I was happy for her, since we discovered pretty soon after the Ghost Riders that we were not meant to be in a serious relationship. I still crushed on her and she did on me, but we didn’t want to be the ultimate uber-couple. She knew I was crushing more on the man sitting next to me right now.

Night was falling. We would arrive in Beacon Hills in an hour. Or so I thought. Soon after, the jeep started making awful noises, making Derek sigh in frustration. The vehicle slowed down until it came to a full stop.

“What’s going on?” I asked, looking at the dashboard.

“I don’t know,” Derek grumbled.

He looked outside, where it had started to rain. I got out of the jeep and checked under the hood, but didn’t find anything wrong with it. This wasn’t my old blue battered jeep that broke down and was fixed with duct tape. This was a brand-new model and it still broke down. I was lost and I got wet, meaning my mood was sinking rapidly. Derek stood next to me, getting as wet as I did. He tried to protect me from the rain with an old umbrella hovering over my head while getting soaked to the bone himself. I tried not to look at those wet-clothed abs too much.

“Did you find it?” he asked.

“Nope. I know all about old jeeps and duct tape, but these new technologies are too far beyond my paycheck,” I sighed as I smashed the hood down.

“That’s okay,” he smiled. “You tried.”

I looked around to discover where exactly we were. There was hardly anyone here at this time of night. We were practically in the middle of nowhere, at the outskirts of a small town we usually just passed through. In a mile or so, we would probably reach the town center. We spotted lights in the far distance. It was still raining like crazy and this umbrella didn’t help that much. I wanted a hot bath and a decent set of clothes.

“Come on,” I said, “we’ll get someone to take a look at the jeep.”

“I can easily call a tow truck from here, or we could call your dad to come and pick us up,” Derek offered.

I waved my phone.

“Already tried. No connection. We’re between the mountains, so there’s hardly any reach out here. We’re stuck, I’m afraid.”

“Great,” Derek muttered, but he didn’t sound angry, more disappointed.

I knew how he felt. This whole trip had just been a big waste of time. Ah well. We had to make the best of it.

“Come on, big guy,” I said, rummaging through the trunk of the jeep, trying to find a snack or something to eat in our bags, but there was nothing. My stomach was churning and I felt a bit weak, but I wouldn’t tell him that. “I know it sucks and I know we’re hungry and just want to get home, but standing around here waiting for someone to come by and take us with him, won’t help much. I haven’t seen a car on these roads for at least an hour. I know you love the smaller wooden area woods, but right now, that’s not very helpful.”

We pushed the jeep to the side of the road. At least the rain finally stared pouring down, which was something, I guess. Derek locked the vehicle and looked at me with a sudden grin on his face.

“What?” I asked.

“Your hair, Stiles. Its … funny, let’s just say. Sticking out in all directions even more than usual.”

He stuck out his hand, as if he wanted to run his fingers through it and I could almost feel it, making me shudder. God, that body dressed in wet clothes was just sinful. Get a grip, Stiles. Get a goddamned grip. He’s your colleague and not your boyfriend. Which didn’t mean a boy couldn’t dream, right?

“Did you take a look at yourself?” I snorted, breaking the silence. “You’re like a soaked cat.”

Derek shook his hair and laughed.

“At least you’re not making dog jokes this time.”

I tried to ignore how gorgeously looking that man was, standing wet from rain like that. God, I’ve been fighting my feelings for so long that it became second nature by now. That still didn’t mean that I didn’t get a hard on by seeing him like that. Well, at least working with him solved part of my problem. I didn’t have to daydream about him, since I had him by my side every single day. It was something to soothe the pain of not having him fully.

We started walking into the direction of the next town, where we immediately bumped into a gas station with workshop behind it, at the outskirts of town. A gas station hopefully also meant a mechanic, but of course the workshop and the building in front of it, were closed.

Lights were switched on in the house behind it. Next to that was a barn where a lot of noise and laughter came from. We both sighed in relief. Houses meant phones and people and help to get our jeep started again. I rang the doorbell. After a few seconds, the door opened. A man in old-fashioned attire smiled at us with the friendliest eyes I had ever seen. He looked like a classic movie star, about fifty something. He greeted us with a slight bow and a polite accent.

“Yes? Can I help you?” he asked.

“I'm sorry to bother you this late, sir,” I spoke politely, showing him my badge. “We're Federal Agents. Our jeep broke down a mile down the road. Are you by any chance a mechanic?”

“I certainly am,” he said, “but I can't help you folks right now, I’m afraid. You see, our town’s annual party is just about the start and people are expecting me since I’m the organizer. I hope you don’t mind.”

“I see,” Derek said. “I’m sorry, sir, we definitely don’t want to disturb you or keep you from your party. Can we call a tow truck from here? Would that be okay? Our phones aren’t working.”

“I’m afraid our town has been off the grid for a couple of days, ever since that heavy storm broke off our cables three nights ago. We’re pretty much isolated, son,” the man spoke friendly. “Listen, you folks look really tired and you’re soaked to the bone. You’ll catch a disease this way. Why don’t you stay the night and join our party? It's not often that we get outsiders here. You can stay here for the night. I don't know where you're headed to, but I'm sure it can wait till the morning. Nobody can be in that much of a hurry on a beautiful night like this, right? My name is Michael, by the way. My wife Rachel is already at the barn, but you'll meet her soon.”

After the disappointments of our day, I wished for nothing more than a warm bed after a long hot shower, a nice cup of tea and some peace of mind. I turned to Derek, praying he felt the same. To my surprise, his eyes were soft and a warm smile painted his face, as if he was happy that our car had broken down.

“What do you think?”

“I suppose we can fix our jeep in the morning,” he shrugged. “I wouldn’t mind sleeping here either, as long as we can head out at dawn.”

Then he winked at me briefly, again with that smile on his face. God, I must be dreaming it, but my stomach twitched and I felt foolishly happy for one long moment. That jeep of his broke down at a good time. I would love to spend another night together, even if it was in two different rooms.

“Perfect,” Michael, our host smiled. “I’ll make sure you folks can head home first thing in the morning. Now then, why don’t we get you showered and changed? Let me show you to your rooms and the bathroom where you can take a hot shower. I’ll get you something small to eat since you look quite hungry and some clothes too. Then you can join us in the barn, right next door. It’s a fancy-dress party, so I’ll make sure you folks don’t stand out like sore thumbs.”

“Thanks,” Derek said gratefully.

As we were taken upstairs in Michael’s, I couldn't help but notice the strange, old-fashioned way of life these people lived. They had a television, radio and hot water. Yet, it seemed as if time stood still in the house. This had to be a very traditional couple, who didn’t mind being cut off from the outside world.

To my disappointment, we got two adjoined rooms. Michael fetched us some sandwiches which we devoured quickly, after which he left us alone and told us to take it easy.

Derek took a shower first and came out dressed only in a towel. I bit on my lip, stared at his gorgeous body for too long and headed into the bathroom next, sporting a hard on. Again. When I got out after a long cold shower in which I refused to jerk off since he was right next door, Derek and I found sets of clothes on the beds that probably belonged to our host. Mine were a size smaller than Derek’s. We laughed when we saw each other, dressed in classic attire, as if we went back in time.

“Must be part of the party theme,” I remarked.

I whistled when I saw Derek in his beautiful tuxedo, as they would have worn in the 1900’s. God, he was so beautiful. If only I could tell him how much I loved being with him. I noticed he looked me up and down too, before running a quick hand through my hair. Shocked, I stared at him and realized that he stood really close to me. I could feel his breath on me and couldn’t move.

“You look gorgeous,” he whispered against my ear.

“Derek …”

Before I knew what was happening, his lips were on mine and he gripped me, brushing his hand against my back. When he let go, I held my breath and just stared into those beautiful eyes of his. I was flabbergasted.

“Derek …”

“I know,” he smiled, his hand touching my cheek. “Must be something in the air. I can’t stop thinking about you. You are the most beautiful man I’ve ever seen, Stiles. I’m sorry it took me so long to kiss you.”

“I’m sorry that it took me so long to tell you that I love you,” I replied.

He held his breath. Then his smile radiated even more and he whispered, “I love you too.”

Once we recovered enough not to smell like sex and love and whatever else, Derek and I left the empty house hand in hand and walked up to the barn, completely and totally in love. God, what was happening to us tonight? This all felt like a fairy tale. It was unreal. I had to be dreaming.

There was laughter and music at the barn. Several villagers, all dressed up as if they came right out of the 1900’s, greeted us. The music we heard didn't come from an iPod or CD-player, but from a live band, playing as if their lives depended on it.

Michael took us around the barn and introduced us to the townsfolk. He pulled us closer to the stage then, crawled on it and stopped the band.

“Everyone, for the first time ever, we have guests in our midst. These FBI-agents wound up with us by chance and we would love to introduce them to you.”

Derek and I smiled shyly at the people openly scrutinizing us. The next minute, we got caught up in the festivities. I saw Derek wind up in a group of men and women who took it onto them to have him meet some more people. I smiled as I watched him turn around and look at me helplessly while he was taken to yet another couple waiting to meet him too. It suited him to be so open and nice and smiling. God, that smile.

The same was done to me. I met new people throughout the night and forgot all about my exhaustion and disappointment of the wasted trip. The band played beautiful classical music and we danced with dozens of people, who welcomed us warmly every single time. There was so much love in this place. You could feel it in every single detail.

Michael and Rachel were together the whole time, dancing, kissing and hugging. They were a lovely couple. I just could just watch them forever. Somehow, the atmosphere of this beautiful party made us forget everything. We were so caught up that I forgot all about Beacon hills.

A couple of hours later, we finally managed to find each other again. Derek stroked his hand past my face and smiled with so much love in his eyes that it made me melt. I wanted to kiss him, but didn’t dare to in front of our hosts. Michael walked over to Derek and I with a smile on his face and grabbed both our hands.

“Love is everywhere,” the man smiled. “It comes in every shape and form. Praise yourselves lucky that you’ve found it.”

“I …” I started, but didn’t know what to say.

“Thank you,” Derek replied quickly. “I am happy that I found it.”

He leaned forward and kissed me in front of our hosts and the other party members, as if it was the normal thing to do. I melted away. God, who was this man tonight? Derek had lost all boundaries and I couldn’t help but enjoy every second of it. Mind-blowing sex might be on the table after all.

Around midnight, everything changed. Derek and I were asked to sit on two chairs next to each other, while our nice hosts surrounded us and told us to take it easy. I started feeling sleep, as if someone had slipped me a drug. The combination of eggnog with tiredness made me want to go to sleep right there, leaning against Derek’s shoulder. It was as if all strength had left my body.

When I looked aside, I noticed that Derek felt tired too, but we both stayed upright on our seats, blinking our eyelids profusely. We didn't want to spoil the evening. I removed my jacket and bowtie and watched Derek do the same.

Something changed in the barn. It became too hot in here, as if someone had lit a bonfire inside the building. My head started spinning. I felt so tired I could just pass out where I sat. I closed my eyes. Derek leaned into me and shook my arm.

“What?” I slurred.

“Something’s wrong,” he slurred back. “It’s too hot in here, Stiles. Keep your eyes open.”

I tried to lift my head, only to see something that resembled flames and fire to my right. Immediately I thought of the Hale housefire, feeling sad and upset for Derek that he had to go through this again. I wanted to protect him, but I couldn’t move.

Suddenly Mike came to us. He grabbed me tight, pulled me up and spoke to me in a firm voice. I saw that his wife Rachel did the same to Derek.

“You should go now,” the man said.

“Where to?” I asked dazed.

“You'll see. There is not much time left. Just get out of here.”

I didn't understand what the man was saying. My body was slowly losing its grip on reality. I felt my mind dwell off into nothingness and my consciousness leave me at a rapid pace. Something was very, very wrong. People’s faces danced in front of my eyes as if I was drunk. I blinked my eyelids and looked to the flames, increasing rapidly.

Apart from us, everyone just stood still, as if they were waiting for them. Something clicked inside my head.

“You’re right,” I muttered. “We should go. Derek, we need to go now.”

I looked aside and saw the wolf lying unconscious on the barn floor with closed eyes. Shocked, I reached out my hand to touch his face, but I felt my own body slip to the floor too. We were trapped by these people and the flames and there was nothing I could do about it.

Darkness came.

***

“Stiles. Stiles, wake up. Wake up, Stiles!”

I grunted as I battled my way back to consciousness, finding it hard and exhaustive. The voice that spoke to me, was familiar though. It made me want to come back from the dark, since it was caring, soothing and scared at the same time.

I was lying in Derek’s lap. He had somehow pushed himself up and pulled me up so that my head rested against him. I shivered with cold, despite the jacket he had placed over me and his body heat that I could feel like a protective blanket over me.

“What happened?” I croaked.

A splitting headache ran its course beneath my skull. I vaguely remembered the party at the barn. The fun, followed by the sudden urge to sleep. What the hell?

“Where are we?” I croaked with my eyelids shut.

“Beats me,” Derek sighed. “Open your eyes and see for yourself.”

Blinding bright sunlight made it hard to focus, but when I managed to look up, I saw that we were lying in the middle of a large field. Derek was leaning against a tree stump. Other than that, there was not much to see around here. The one thing I did recognize, was the gas station and its building next door standing in front of us. Next to it was the house in which we stayed last night. Only, it was a ruin now. A burned-out ruin.

“What the hell … where’s the barn? What happened to the house?” I croaked, moving out of Derek’s lap uneasily with his help.

“I don’t know, Stiles. I woke up here, just like you.”

Derek carefully moved me up and took some of my pain. He was already past the sense of fatigue and numbness that I was still suffering, thanks to his fast healing abilities. I on the other hand felt like I had a huge hangover. I barely managed to stand on my feet.

“Please tell me we didn’t dream that party.”

“If we did, it was a folie à deux,” Derek muttered.

“A madness shared by two?”

“Yep. Besides, we are still wearing their clothes. This was very real, Stiles.”

I looked down to notice the tuxedos we were in. Derek had covered my shivering form with the jacket I had taken off last night. We literally wore the evidence of the events on our bodies.

Together we left the field. Derek made me lean against him. He was protective and caring. I didn’t want to address our kisses and love confessions just yet, praying that this part too wasn’t a dream.

In shock we stood still when we noticed what we hadn’t seen before. This place was a ghost town, with nothing but abandoned ruins. The entire town had gone up in flames, leaving nothing but scattered wood and debris.

“What the hell is going on here, Stiles?”

“I don’t know,” I muttered, “but I have this uncanny feeling our jeep might be working again.”

Derek didn’t look at me and I didn’t want to explain just yet until I was sure, but the sign with the town’s name, that we passed while we walked down the road where we left our jeep last night, proved that my theory might be right.

Just as I expected, the jeep started as soon as Derek tried his keys. He looked at me surprised.

“This entire village burned down thirty years ago during a special party,” I explained. “I realized it only when I saw the name of the town. After the fire, it became a ghost town.”

“Let me guess, the fire started at the barn where the party took place?” Derek asked.

“If I remember correctly, it was a wedding anniversary the town celebrated. Nobody survived; each and every one of the townsfolk were there. I did research on ghost towns after the Ghost Riders and Canaan,” I spoke, remembering this place and its sad story vividly. “The couple who organized the party were very much in love. They believed love was the answer to everything and that you should celebrate it whenever you can.”

Derek turned towards me, smiled and leaned into me. His soft lips on mine made me close my eyes and relish that sacred moment.

“Love is the answer to everything,” he whispered.

 

End

 

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks so much for reading this story! It has been sitting on my harddrive for quite some time.  
> Hope you liked it!


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